When Losing It All
by Chibimono Akuno
Summary: Draco Malfoy witnesses his father being killed by Voldermort. With his own life being threatened, he runs, only to run into the saving arms of Harry Potter. slash WILL NOT BE COMPLETED!
1. Fallen Prince and Tarnished Golden Boy

title: When Losing It All (1/?)  
author: Chibimono Akuno  
email: chibimono@msn.com  
category: OH THE ANGST, drama, budding romance at a later date...  
spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP  
rating: R for now because of violence and foul language... rating will go up in the future, if things go to plan...  
disclaimers: These characters, all except for any I may have made up for the purpose of the story, belong to the wonderful goddess J.K. Rowling and all other companies that own them. I bow before you all and beg for your forgiveness of using these characters. I only wish to entertain, not make money.  
A/N: This is my first solo multipart writing excursion in this fandom, and my lava lamp muse, Volcano, is demanding that this be done... Please do not be too harsh with me! I want to know what everyone thinks, as I am almost afraid to continue this... I hope you enjoy it!  
  
When Losing It All part 1: The Fallen Prince and the Tarnished Golden Boy by Chibimono Akuno   
~ So impressed with all you do  
tried so hard to be like you  
flew too high and burnt the wing  
lost my faith in everything ~  
- Nine Inch Nails, Somewhat Damaged  
  
The world became a very ugly place suddenly. Things that were once looked forward to and much anticipated became horrifying and dangerous. Things that were once trusted not to fail fell through with speed and heaviness of a boulder down a steep mountainside. Things that were once labeled as Dark truly began to show just why they were labeled so.   
  
Following in his father's footsteps was all Draco Malfoy thought he ever wanted. He wanted to make his father proud and bring honor to his family. He wanted to prove that, yes, he was a Malfoy, and no one had the power to stop him from doing what ever he wanted. Times were different then. Tension of the undeniable upcoming war was felt everywhere in the wizarding world. Everyone was waiting impatiently for a move from Lord Voldermort, from an attack by the Death Eaters.   
  
Draco was the only son one of the most powerful and influential Death Eater families. He could observe meetings when they were held at his family's manor and accept messages for his father. Everyday at home in the large manor, Draco's father instructed him in the Dark Arts, preparing him for the gift of the Mark on his twentieth birthday, and for the upcoming Second War. Draco was a quick and studious learner, his only flaw was the inability to bring himself to kill another person, regardless of the threats and the punishments his father gave him.  
  
Graduation from Hogwarts was held without incident, and Draco went home to wait for the beginning. Even though the Dark Lord was revived at the end of Draco's fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldermort had made no true move amongst the Wizarding world as of yet, save for an attack at the Ministry of Magic to get at Harry Potter. Six months later, everything Lord Voldermort needed was finally in place, and Azkaban was attacked. All the Death Eaters were released and rushed quickly to the Dark Lord's side. Lucius Malfoy wasted no time returning home.   
  
Draco hung on to every word messengers brought to Malfoy Manor. There were reports of whole wizarding towns lost of people, houses burned, Muggles dying. Draco only laughed and said that was what they deserved for trying to stop the Dark Lord. He only laughed harder when he heard of the feeble attempts to stop the Death Eaters by a band of wizards ridiculously named the Order of the Phoenix.   
  
It was around New Years, after Draco's nineteenth birthday, that the laughing stopped. Pathetic resistance suddenly became all-out guerilla magic warfare as none other than the Boy Who Lived himself entered the battlefield. Leading the way, Harry Potter reaped incredible amounts of damage, fighting with wild magic that no one was sure how to counter. The Order of the Phoenix seemed to have revived itself and was fighting back, putting a nasty dent in the ranks of the Death Eaters. Draco could not wait soon enough for his twentieth birthday to come...  
  
And come it did.  
  
But not the way Draco wanted it.   
  
He awoke that morning with an unusual sinking feeling in his stomach. He dismissed it as he quickly dressed. With light steps, he made his way to his father's study. This was the morning he had been longing for, desiring for as long as he could remember. Nevermind that he himself did not want to fight, nevermind that he himself did not want to kill, nevermind because his father would not hear of such a thing, and nevermind because Lord Voldermort would kill him if he knew the truth. Draco was to follow his family's honor and become a Death Eater. It was only right.  
  
He paused at the large oaken double doors and heard voices within the study. With a knock, Draco signaled his presence outside the room, and he was greeted by his father's voice. "Come in, Draco," Lucius Malfoy drawled as his son entered obediently. "We were just discussing you."  
  
Other than the tall and lean man of blonde majesty that was his father, there was only one person in the room. This person, this man made the feeling of unease had felt earlier return to his stomach. Draco swallowed down hard on the feeling to force it away, but it lingered regardless as he stared at the big man standing across the desk from his father. Yes, this man was large framed, with large muscles, and a large nasty sneer of pleasure. Of what pleased him, Draco knew nothing of and was desperately hoping he did not have to find out.  
  
Lucius's hand moved toward Draco in a beckoning gesture. "Come forward, Draco. I want you to meet Jaeger Heidenrich, the head field operative for the Dark Lord."  
  
Draco's stomach suddenly clenched, but he stepped forward nonetheless and took the broad man's beefy hand. "How do you do," Draco said softly and bowed slightly in the obedient way that he had been taught growing up.   
  
"Are you veady for var, boi?" The man asked, his German accent heavy. He had a grin on his face as if he was kicking a puppy and liking it immensely. Draco's stomach clenched again, and he realized it as his instincts telling him he was in serious trouble. But instead of running like he knew he should have, Draco stared at the man, his face blank... and hopefully his eyes weren't betraying his fear.  
  
Lucius stood and walked around his desk to place a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Today is a very momentous day, my son. You will become a Death Eater, and join me in the ranks of the Dark Lord!" He was looking proudly at Draco, his eye positively shinning, and in his mind Draco was desperately trying to tell his heart this was the right thing to do.  
  
The elder Malfoy quickly steered his son out of the study and down into the dungeons of the manor, with Heidenrich following. Draco's heart pounded in his chest as he realized they were going to the ceremony room. "We can not leave the Master waiting," his father said as they moved quickly through the stone hallway. The quick footsteps that echoed through the halls and the fast approaching doors made Draco feel faint in a way he had never experienced. Blood was rushing hard in his ears and breathing was erratic.  
  
No, he was so wrong and it was too late!  
  
He was never to have freedom again! He was to follow Voldermort's command! He was to destroy all living creatures that opposed the Dark Lord! He would have to kill Muggles and Wizards... and he knew he could not. He had tried, but death was not something he could curse anyone with.   
  
And he knew the Dark Lord would not be happy about this at all!  
  
The doors swung open to a room lined in candles and black velvet fabric, and then were closed by Heidenrich from the outside. This was the ceremony room and in all his evil glory, Voldermort himself, clothed in heavy black robes, sat upon the alter. Draco was unceremoniously pushed towards the powerful being on the other side of the room. Hands resting on both his shoulders, Draco's father forced him to stop and stand right before the hooded being. The fear in the boy leapt up ten fold as he felt the pure hateful, evil, negative power roll off the Dark Lord in tidal waves.  
  
"Look at me, boy," came the harsh and high pitched voice from under the hood. Ever obedient, Draco looked up, his eyes wide and helplessly frightened. Eyes peered at him from under the hood, eyes that glowed red with a wicked intensity. Draco held his breath as his gray eyes locked with the glowing ones, and he felt a sudden pull inside his brain. It felt like the Dark Lord was taking his thoughts, his secrets, his dreams, and pulling them all out of his brain through his eyes and forehead. Over the roar in his ears, he heard a wild wailing, but could not tell where they were coming from. Images flew past his mind's eye, showing him his childhood, his years at Hogwarts, his private times alone, his training with his father-  
  
"NO! DON'T SEE THAT!" Draco heard himself screaming over the fierce white noise in his ears. As soon as the words left his mouth he felt his body strike something hard, his vision clearing to see that he was across the room, slammed against the closed double doors. And the Dark Lord was rising from the alter, coming forward.   
  
Lucius was terrified, the horror written all over his face. "My Lord! Please... He is my only son- my only child!"  
  
"SILENCE, LUCIUS!" came the cold voice, full of rage. "You have bred a failure! I will not have my time wasted on failure!"  
  
Draco pressed himself against the door, wishing it were possible for him to melt through it or slither under the slim space at the bottom of it. He held his breath as he knew the torture was coming, and in the back of his mind he wondered how Harry Potter had survived the Killing Curse as a baby with only a scar.  
  
"_Crucio!_"   
  
But instead of Draco screaming, it was his father's voice that howled in agony. "How dare you!" Shouted the high pitched voice of Voldermort. The Dark Lord turned his attack on Lucius, aiming the Unforgivable Curses upon the man, as his son watched, frozen where he was against the door. "A long line of powerful pureblood wizards, ending here in *failure*!"   
  
Draco's heart stopped as Avada Kedavra was cast and his father's body went still. A sob choked him as he closed his eyes and wished he was anywhere but here in the ceremony room, witnessing his father's demise. He felt his body move with a loud _crack_ sound, and he opened his eyes as he felt the change in temperature around him. It was cold and midmorning in the middle of nowhere... Trembling violently and terrified beyond all belief, Draco realized, as his world was crashing down around him, that he had no idea where he was and that he no longer had a home to return to....  
  
~~~~~  
  
~ In the blur of serenity  
where did everything get lost?  
the flowers of naivete  
buried in a layer of frost ~  
- Nine Inch Nails, I'm Looking Forward To Joining You Finally  
  
Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place was full of wizards and witches moving about. A solemn mood was cast over the whole house as strategy, reports, and the dead were discussed in hushed tones. People came and went through the rooms and up and down the stairs. It was one corner in the parlor that everyone stayed away from, letting the lone occupant of the worn and tattered stuffed chair have a few minutes of peace.  
  
For there, in the corner, sat Harry Potter, curled up on the chair, his green eyes closed to the world, a hand pressed to his scar on his forehead. His body ached from his most recent battle with Death Eaters only a few hours earlier. He was desperately trying to cut off the angry surge of pain from Lord Voldermort's emotions. Every so often an aching muscle would twitch or shudder of pain would pass through his body. He pulled his robes around him tighter. He wanted to be left alone to his pain, to remember all those who had stood beside him when the battle started and were now lost. Tears were forced back from tightly shut eyes and a sob became a shudder that once again racked his body with pain.  
  
He did not want to listen to anyone. He did not want to be there. He wanted to go away, to go anywhere, where there was no pain and no hurt. Suddenly it was too hot, too stuffy, too full of people to remain inside. He rose to his feet, despite his aching body's protestations, and moved to the door as others were coming in. He slipped out easily into the cool night air, wishing, wanting, and waiting for this all to be over. The only people Harry wanted to be with right now, the only people important to him at this every moment were away and he was unable to reach them. He missed Ron Weasley's reassuring pats on his shoulder, Hermione Granger's gentle smiles, Remus Lupin's calm care, Rubius Hagrid's pure trust and loyalty, and Albus Dumbledore's keen protective wisdom. Sure, he knew everyone in the Order of the Phoenix and they all followed his orders and looked out for him, but they were not as close to him as his dear friends who were so far away at the moment.  
  
The night was dark and lonely as he walked along, staring everywhere but not looking at anything. His heart ached as he realized how alone he really was, now that he was closed off from the world. He was to have no contacts outside of the Order, was not to travel alone in public areas, or leave the secure neighborhood of Grimmauld Place without an escort. No Quidditch, no shopping in Hogsmead, no time for idle chitchat with friends. He could not be found or left unprotected while Death Eaters roamed. He was to be ready for a battle every second of the day, no distractions or commitments outside of war were allowed.  
  
"Wanna, what is it...? A fag?" a voice asked beside Harry.   
  
He jumped, coming back to reality and quickly whipping out his wand, but stopping short only as he noticed it was another member of the Order. The dark haired young man let out an exasperated sigh. "You know I don't smoke, Duo," Harry ground out with gritted teeth. He hated it when someone got the jump on him. And out of all the members, only Duode Viginti knew how.  
  
The man chuckled, his rare violet eyes looked tired, but there was a bit of mirth twinkling there. Viginti rose to his feet from where he sat on the cold stone stoop of Number Eighteen, stretching his lean, tall frame, a smoking cigarette hanging from his smiling lips. With a toss of his head, he shook his long thick braid about behind his back. "I know. Just wanted to say, "fag". That, an' bein' a gentleman, like the rest of you Brit folk around here," he said with a grin.  
  
Harry could not help but to smile. Viginti was rather disarming in character, a happy-go-lucky and extremely honest man, with a sense of humor that could cut you to the quick. He was American, chose to go by the shortened name of "Duo", and traveled to England from the United States to join the Order for revenge of a loved one's death by the hand of Voldermort. In Harry's opinion, he was quite fearless, being one of the few that would actually say Voldermort's name without flinching, and he would never run from a battle unless he knew that winning was impossible. To top it off, he was an unregistered animagus, and he willingly taught Harry how to become one himself.  
  
"What are you doing out in the cold, anyway, Harry?" Viginti asked, a concern slightly coloring his voice.  
  
With a shrug, Harry turned to the tall man. "I just wanted to think without everyone crowding me."  
  
Viginti made a sound sucking at his teeth. "It's your house, kid. Tell them to move it out. They could use any of the other houses on the block. The whole neighborhood is ours, thanks to you an' Dumbledore's shields."  
  
The green eyed young man smiled, "I'm not as blunt as you are, Duo-"  
  
With a careless wave of his hand in Harry's face, Viginti cut him short. "Fine, lets go. I'll kick'em all out. No prob." He turned Harry around and threw his arm over the boy's shoulder, still puffing away on the half finished cigarette, which he tossed as they reached the front door to Number Twelve.   
  
But before there hands were even on the doorknob, it was opened. Arthur Weasley stood there, his face a portrait of strain and seriousness. "There is a report another attack. This time in Bath. Are you up for it, Harry?"  
  
Harry grimaced, still exhausted in mind and body, but nevertheless he nodded. Viginti patted him on his back, and threw in, "Me, too! I'm in!"  
  
~ to be continued ~   
A/N: I just wanted to let you all know that I am also a huge fan of the Gundam Wing fandom. Any of you GW fans may notice that Duode Viginti has a striking resemblance to Duo Maxwell... Well, Duode is my homage to Duo. Any Latin scholars out there? Duodeviginti is Latin for 18, literally translated- "two from twenty". The meaning behind it is that the character Duode behaves like he's barely an adult. Forever young, one could say.  
  
Let me know what you think! 


	2. Life Preserver

title: When Losing It All (2/?)  
author: Chibimono Akuno  
email: chibimono@msn.com  
category: OH THE ANGST, drama, budding romance at a later date...  
spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP  
rating: R for violence, foul language... rating may go up in the future, if things go to plan...  
disclaimers: These characters, all except for any I may have made up for the purpose of the story, belong to the wonderful goddess J.K. Rowling and all other companies that own them. I bow before you all and beg for your forgiveness of using these characters. I only wish to entertain, not make money.  
A/N: Second part, everyone! Yes, I know I use a lot of quotes from NIN songs, but have you ever listened to them? Trent Renzor is a very angsty man who likes to yell a lot. I'll have other songs for quotes, too. It's just that these seem to fit the best for right now. Are you ready? Let me know what you think.  
  
  
When Losing It All part 2: Life Preserver by Chibimono Akuno   
  
~ The hopes and the prays  
the better days  
the far aways  
forget it ~  
- Nine Inch Nails, The Wretched  
  
Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were the first to make it to the scene at a Wizarding town in Bath. The two of them had Apparated there and leaned up against the wall of a building, waiting for the rest of the Order's team to arrive. All around them was screaming and the smell of smoke filled the evening air. Wands at ready, the awaited another set of cracking sounds.   
  
Against the wall of the house right across them, there was a __crack!__ and suddenly Viginti and Tonks appeared, wands at ready as well. Quickly, they rushed over to Finnigan and Thomas, putting their backs against the wall.   
  
Viginti moved to the corner of the building and looked around it. "This don't look good," he groaned as he turned back to the other three with him.   
  
"Where are Harry and Kau?" Finningan demanded in a panic.  
  
There was another __crack!__ and suddenly an Asian man in the black robes of a temple keeper appeared before them. His eyes were closed in concentration and his hands were folded before his chest, making strange movements with his fingers. He stood this way for only a moment, till his fingers had completed their series of movements, and then his eyes opened wide to the world around him.   
  
Tonks nodded to him, her purple spiky hair bouncing as she did. "What's the count, Kau?" she asked severely.  
  
"Thirteen dead, twenty three wounded, sixteen Death Eaters," the Asia man responded.  
  
Thomas shot a look at Kau, "Can you tell if any of them are the Minister?" The returned reply was a shake a head in the negative.  
  
Before anyone could ask where Harry could be, they all heard his voice.   
  
"_Omnis Famulatus!_"  
  
They all took that as their cue to move out, finding Harry standing in the middle of the road with his wand held high. Four Death Eaters hit the ground while being wrapped in serpent like chains, stunned. "Twelve more!" Kau yelled to Harry before they all moved in separate locations to begin the hunt. Harry nodded to man and dashed headlong into the nearest burning building.  
  
~~~~~  
  
~ Tried to save place from the cuts and the scratches  
tried to overcome the complications and the catches  
nothing ever grows and the sun doesn't shine all day  
tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away ~  
- Nine Inch Nails, Into The Void  
  
Draco had walked for days and days, it seemed. He was starving. When was the last time he ate? He could not remember. He could not remember the last time he had slept, either. He just kept moving, stopping only when he could move no more. He kept away from places busy by people, avoiding being seen. He had to find somewhere safe.  
  
In the back of his mind, he kept seeing his father die. The one person he had looked up to his whole life, the one person that he loved with all his being... Gone. And what about his mother? He needed to know if she was all right... But no, she was most likely dead, too. Tears slid down his face, but he continued walking, hoping he could find a place safe. Anywhere would be fine... Anywhere...  
  
It was evening by the time Draco found himself wondering through a small town. It was quiet, and just by the size of it, he could tell it was a tiny Wizarding community. It did not have the modern conveniences of paved roads or street lamps. He wondered if they even had a portkey station in town.   
  
He headed towards a patch of vegetables that was growing in an unfenced backyard when he heard a crash. A loud scream quickly followed, which suddenly sent the whole community up in a panic. The upper windows of a small two story home flashed with a red light and flames began to lick at the glass. Figures in black hoods began filtering out of the house through the front door and out into the street with the smoke.  
  
Draco's heart stopped as fear gripped him. No... Not Death Eaters!  
  
"WHERE IS FUDGE?!" yelled one of the men in black. There was too much screaming and commotion for anyone to take the demand seriously. "THE MINISTER IS HERE!! WHERE IS HE?!" Flashes of spellfire and shouted curses had the people crying and begging. Death Eaters were going into houses and dragging people out. Children were wailing and women were sobbing. Frozen in terror, Draco could only watch from were he stood right at the edge of the town.   
  
And as if all his fears were coming true, one of the Death Eaters turned...  
  
The hood fell back from his head...  
  
It was Jaeger Heidenrich! The last person to see him since his father died.  
  
And he saw the Malfoy heir, recognizing him just as fast as Draco had recognized him.  
  
His breath hitched in his throat as he turned to run. Draco had to get away, but he could not make it...  
  
"_Crucio!_"   
  
Draco found his body slammed to the ground, his face in the dirt, as his nerves burned with an electric fire of pure pain. He was gasping and crying, tears falling down his face into the mud below. Another cast of the Cruciatus Curse, a third, and a fourth, and Draco was scrambling for consciousness through the agony.   
  
"Please... Please end it... now... or someone... come save me...!" He begged to the tear splattered earth beneath him.  
  
As if the gods were listening and taking pity on his lost soul, a roar came from behind. An animal's growl among the screams, Draco was sure he heard, as he fought desperately to get up and get away. He had only managed to turn on to his back when he saw it.  
  
A large black creature with flashing green eyes.  
  
A hooded figure was already on the ground, and the creature was lunging at another one, tearing at the robes with it's great maws. Death Eaters were running in all directions to get away from the creature, screaming of the wild black beast. Spellfire shot out from behind houses and around corners, taking the fleeing Death Eaters down.   
  
Draco's breath was coming to him in harsh rasps as his body shook in pain and fear. The animal was coming to him, and now he could tell that it was no ordinary beast, but a black panther, and it's green eyes were trained on him. A cry of terror escaped his throat as he tried in vain to make his body move. In vain, but to no avail!  
  
And then the panther's form began to change... It moved to walk on it's hind legs and it's black fur was disappearing... But green eyes remained fastened to him...  
  
"Draco Malfoy...?" came the very familiar voice from the very familiar form of....  
  
"Potter...?!" Draco gasped out weakly, not believing his vision as dark moats began to cloud his vision.   
  
Tall and dark haired, his glasses in place and face covered in soot, Harry Potter knelt down beside Draco's body, taking the half unconscious body immediately into his arms. "Are you alright? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Running away..." he breathed in terror, just barely hanging on to reality. "But it seems like I... can never get far enough away..."   
  
"You've been running since your father died, haven't you?"  
  
A nod was the only reply given as grey eyes closed in exhaustion, his body shivering in fear.  
  
Movement was filtering through to the part of his brain still hanging on and much to Draco's surprise, he was being held close to the chest of the green eyed young man. He was carrying Draco as if he were nothing. "What...? What are... Are you doing?"  
  
"You're injured."  
  
If Draco had the energy, he would have snorted. "Yes, but... that doesn't explain what you are doing..."  
  
"I will give you shelter and safety."   
  
Grey eyes went wide to look at his rescuer, face serious and grave behind those round spectacles.. "At what cost...?" he asked, fearing the worst as his mind floated away.  
  
"That you never betray me."  
  
Of all the simple requests...? Draco wondered to himself as he finally let himself slip out of consciousness. "I... promise..." left his lips before he could no longer think at all...   
  
~~~~~  
  
~ You think I care   
about me and only me  
when every single girl needs help   
climbing up a tree  
well i know it don't take much  
to satisfy me ~  
- The White Stripes, I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman  
  
Draco woke up sometime later in the comforts of a large sleigh bed with warm blankets. Panic hit him at first, as he did not recognize his surroundings. Did someone pick him up off the streets after he collapsed? His body was aching. What happened to him?   
  
He sat up and looked around, seeking clues to why he was in this bed he found himself in. The room was rather small. Just enough to accommodate the bed and two chests of drawers on either side of it. Across from the foot of the bed, there was a door to a small closet that was open, revealing a pile of clothing hastily shoved in, and a next to it the door to the bath, of which he could see a orotund claw footed bathtub. The walls were an off white colour, yet in some places there were scorch marks, as well as large holes knocked inwards. There was a high backed chair in the corner covered in red brocade upholstery... And draped across the back of the chair was a red and gold scarf, dingy and faded, but still obviously the Gryffindor House's colours of pride.  
  
That was the trigger he needed, as he remembered the Death Eater attack, the Cruciatus Curse, and the form of the green eyed panther that was Gryffindor's own Golden Boy, Harry Potter.  
  
Draco fought against the pain to stretch aching muscles, learning that someone had changed him from his filthy clothes and put him in to a comfortable pair of oversized flannel pyjamas. He then sniffed at himself to find that he was even bathed. He sighed and laid back on the pillows, wallowing in the simple luxury of it. After trudging for so long, it was nice to be clean and warm and safe.  
  
Safe.  
  
Harry Potter had offered him safety.   
  
How the tides have changed, Draco thought. Nine years ago, it was Draco who offered Harry his hand in friendship, and was completely shot down. But they were safe, then, were they not? They were not in the mists of some war with bitter choices, unspeakable losses, fatal wounds, and horrifyingly short life expectancies. With his father dead, and himself quickly to follow unless something was done about it, Draco found himself desperate for safety. How odd that the very person that turned away his friendship so long ago has put his hand out now, offering exactly what he needed.  
  
But Draco suddenly stopped thinking and began to listen. There was a flurry of voices coming from outside the door, and though they were loud, they sounded as if they might be down the hall or stairs. Yet they were moving closer.  
  
Everything was muffled by the door and whatever distance there was, but the blonde could tell the conversation was heated just by the tones of the voices.  
  
"You don't know him!" A voice yelled out as the came in to a clear range.  
  
"You're right," replied another voice, "But I trust Harry's decision! I saw nothing, and he saw nothing! What evidence to you have to contest?"  
  
"But his father-" The voices suddenly went silent.   
  
There was the sound of someone moving up stairs, stopping half way. "I've had enough of all your foolish bickering!" A voice, the voice Draco remembered from his last time awake, had said. "Death Eaters were attacking him. He needed help! I don't care if it is some kind of trap. They could have killed him, but I was not going to stand by and watch! Bringing him here was my decision! This is my home, willed to me by Sirius. I will bear the consequences. You don't have to stay if you don't like it!"  
  
There was only silence from the other voices as the footsteps continued up stairs. Suddenly, a second pair quickly joined. The paces were headed right towards his door by the sound of them. Until they stopped.   
  
"Harry...?" the second voice that Draco had been able to hear was speaking. It was male and speaking with a low tone, but Draco could still hear him. "Hey, Harry..."  
  
There was the sound of a rather loud sniffle, and the voice of Harry responded, "Did I do the right thing?"  
  
"I trust that you did," was the reply.  
  
There was silence again, only broken by another snuffing of the nose and a cough.   
  
There was shuffling and a whimpered sound. "Awe, Harry... I hate to break it to you, but now is not the time to be a cry baby."  
  
Harry's voice was quivering as it shot back, "Bugger off, Duo!"   
  
"Hey, guy! Come one... You know you need to put your foot down sometimes..."  
  
"They say they believe in me," came a sob. "But they don't trust me!"  
  
There was a chuckle, and then the voice said, "You are kinda reckless, kiddo."  
  
There was a loud thump against the wall. "I did what I thought was right! He was afraid! They were going to kill him! I will not- ever- as long as it is in my power to prevent it- let another living being die!" The emotions in Harry's voice was raw and thick, nothing like Draco had ever heard, and he felt his own eyes burn at the sound of the helpless weeping from the other side of the door.  
  
"You need rest," said the voice, this Duo person. "Your _Chi_ isn't doing too good right now... Harry, please, stop crying..."  
  
"Voldermort killed his father..." Harry choked. "It's not fair! He's killing everything! Not even Malfoy deserved it..."  
  
"From what I hear, the others don't seem to agree with you," Duo said softly.  
  
"No... Nononono... You didn't see his face!" Harry was weeping openly, his breath ragged from crying. "He was so afraid... Duo... This shouldn't be happening... Not even to him..."  
  
"Harry-"  
  
"We can't let him go!" the voice of the dark haired Gryffindor was urgent now. "I promised him I would keep him safe! I promised..."  
  
There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs as people began coming up to their floor. There was the unmistakable voice of Albus Dumbledore as he approached the door.  
  
"Harry, are you all right?" the elderly professor asked.   
  
Harry gave no response that Draco could hear and instead, Duo answered for him. "He's _Chi_ is out of balance... He's just upset."  
  
"I was wondering if you will be sitting in with me, Harry, since you were the one to bring Mr. Malfoy here?"  
  
"I'm sorry, sir," Harry's voice was husky from the heavy emotions of crying. "I can not do that... I just... Let me know when you are finished..."  
  
There was the sound of a person retreating before the door to the room was slowly opened. Draco sat back on the pillows as he watched the wizards enter. The room was almost too small for the five wizards that were staring at him now. Dumbledore, the former Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody, Potions Master Serverus Snape, and a person he did not recognize, but could only assume was the "Duo" that Potter was talking to.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," said the wizened Dumbledore. "It has been quite some time since I have seen you. I believe the last time was at the graduation for your year, am I right?"  
  
Draco gave a nod.   
  
The professor nodded in return. "I am most sorry that we must meet again under such circumstances. I must speak to you, however, about this situation. Harry was very bold to have brought you directly here. We can give you protection here, but, unfortunately, we must consider you a prisoner while you are under our shelter."  
  
  
~ to be continued ~  



End file.
